Snapshot Wheat | New Belgium Brewing

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Notes / Commercial Description:
IBU: 13
Yeast: Hybrid ale yeast
Calories: 182
Hops: Cascade
Malts: Pale, Wheat
Fruits/Spices: Coriander, grains of paradise
Special Processing: Add Lactobacillus (souring bacteria) to a portion of the overall wort, which produces lactic acid that gives a characteristic sourness and mouthfeel. That acidic portion is then added to other portion of the wort that was fermented with the Ale yeast. So two worts – a sour and a regular – are blended together to make Snapshot.

Reviews by ZoomanCru:

App: Pours a dark straw/light gold color made somewhat white around the edges due to unfiltered wheat sediment. Slightly airy two finger head foams up nicely and settles leaving soapy, bubble filled lacing up the sides. Beer is very murky, translucent but not opaque.

Smell: Sour and bready, much like sour dough bread actually. Hints of lemon and flowers. Slightly acidic. Overall assertive in aroma, but not particularly complicated. Slightest bit of toast lingering in background.

Taste: Unabashed malted wheat graininess totally dominates fore- and true taste. Slightly toasted, very bready, with a pleasantly sour, almost lactic aftertaste. Slight hints of lemon and green grape peel paired with under-ripe fruit. Some high, thin sweetness on the top of the palate, with aftertaste dominated by a slight tartness that is a truly rare flavor in beer.

Mouth: Light bodied, mellow, and dry, this would be a great summer session beer. Carbonation is medium-strong, totally acceptable for style.

More User Reviews:

4/5 rDev +14.3%

A very wheaty nose scented with fruit.
Pours pale cloudy straw with a very robust white persistent moussey foam cap. Very lacy.
Palate: Big bready wheat malt and then tart and fruity flavors emerge as it crosses your palate. The interactions between the yeasty and the malty tangy wheat with lemon and bread play with your tongue well into the finish. Very drinkable.
The beer comes across light and refreshing but with substance. Refreshingly effervescent.

A - Slightly cloudy straw in color. Light to medium carbonation. White 2 finger frothy head that is slow to dissipate. Not as cloudy as expected considering that this is an unfiltered wheat beer. Head is retained nicely throughout tasting. 3.5/5

S - Reminds me of being around my grandparents' farm at harvest time. Definite graininess and wheat to the aroma. Slight green apple aroma followed up by grassy hops. Ever so slight hint of clove, maybe even a hint of banana. 3.55/5

T - White bread. Wheat. A hint of a caramel sweetness. Cereal. Dominated by the malt here. Hops do not make much of an appearance. Grassy hops. Some yogurt sourness. Sourness is the final note on my tongue instead of bitterness. Slight hint of banana. 3.5/5

O - Very refreshing wheat beer. Some nice flavors going on here. Definitely not your typical wheat beer. Not entirely convinced that I would buy this again. I expect this type of sourness from wild ales, not necessarily from wheat beers. 3.5/5

Disappointed is all I have to say about this one! I popped the top, took a whiff and was repulsed. This is easily on of the worst smelling beers I have had in a long time! It smells of rotten wheat, not fresh at all. Normally I am a big fan of New Belgium, but they bungled this one for sure. The beer's color is watery and looks dirty, the aroma as I mentioned earlier is atrocious, it is bitter beyond enjoyment and the amount of carbonation is insane. I wanted to like this, but it didnt happen, so I have to recommend to avoid this one...

From the first sip, you can tell something is off about this beer. It tastes like an extremely bad shandy.

The description on Beer Advisor mentions something about bacteria that make lactic acid to produce a sour beer, but going only half-way makes this a poor choice. It's not a traditional relaxing wheat beer, and it's not a well executed sour beer. Steer clear.

A - Having given this unfiltered bottle a swirl before pouring, it's no surprise Snapshot is completely hazed; a great look for this pale straw yellow beer. It's billowing white head deflates to a lumpy pile of foam slowly while caking the glass in classic clumpy lace for perfection in a glass!

T - Sweet pale malt almost recalls that rich pilsner malt but it's husky undertones keep it in check, aided by the strong flavor of bountiful soft wheat! Citrus and lactobacillus transition the sweet flavor into refreshing tartness that lets lemon wedge and light pucker (respectively) as well as delicate spiciness wander on the tongue briefly.

M - Nicely carbonated and light-bodied, Snapshot is refreshing indeed, finishing with the perfect level of tart tickling both sides of the tongue!

O - Not only does New Belgium have a penchant for constantly creating new extremely drinkable summertime beers but they also have a big love for sours. While sours have exploded in popularity in the craft beer community, they're not quite ready for the mainstream and that's where Snapshot comes in. New Belgium's Snapshot takes everything great about a pale wheat ale; it's drinkability, refreshing quality, and light, sessionable flavor and adds a twist of tart lactobacillus, a souring bacteria. For us exploratory drinkers it's reminiscent of a German Berliner Weisse while it maintains great training wheel characteristics for those uninitiated looking to get their feet wet in the wild world of sours. Like many of their lighter offerings usually do during the warmer months, Snapshot will have a permanent place in my fridge this summer.

Popped the top to an aroma of someone farting in a wet bathing suit in a hot car. Tart is accurate, which paired well with my dry numb pallet after a pack of newports. Pretty run of the mill wheat beer. Glad I only bought a single. Whoever said it tastes like blue moon was spot on.